StandardShift.com

http://www.revitup.com

I participated in this event last year and I am eagerly awaiting this year's event dates. I'd say the twenty-five dollars were well spent.

The run down: Participants are given two opportunities to race a closed course in a Chevy Cobalt. The course is not much wider than the car itself and it takes about 40 seconds to traverse. Every hour, to compensate for changing track conditions, a professional driver will race the course to set the index; your score (index) will be relative to the professional's score (index). Should a driver veer off the course and hit a cone, then the driver would incur a one second penalty for each cone hit. One hit cone would likely prevent that driver from placing.

The car is "a specially prepared cobalt" -- whatever that means. It has anti-lock braking, electronic stability control, traction control, and the only gear from which one can choose is drive. This is done to "level the playing field" and, to a degree, it does. Not only does it prevent a skilled driver from maximizing a car's potential, it will force a good driver to compensate for the vehicle’s computer’s safety precautions (ABS, EST, TC) and the automatic transmission’s inability to foresee the future.

If you place in the top 25 with cobalt (last year about 1500 drivers showed up to each location) then those 25 drivers will race the same course in a C6 corvette. The highest C6 index scored, of all the locations, will win the Z06.

For those who don't have a chance to place: you will have the opportunity to race with a cobalt on a different (and smaller) closed course -- nothing you do on that course has any bearing on the competition. You can also race the Supercharged SS stick on that course too. Rookies beware: incorrectly operating the standard shift on the SS will likely earn you an open microphone interview with a professional driver turned jester. You get to try the C6, no matter what, with two tries on a miniature (and I mean miniature) closed course. You can sit through racing classes, given by professional drivers, for free. Professional drivers oversee all courses so you'll get some good commentary while you and others practice.

Lastly, you can test drive most of the chevy production line (I don't know about the camaro concept this year, but you couldn't test that one last year). By "test drive", I mean, a slow stroll through a course; if you don't obey the test drive rules, you will be thrown out of the event park and forbidden from racing/placing.

Bring a cooler, pack it with food and drinks, because you’ll spend a good deal on those items if bought from a concession stand.

Should you have any questions, time allowing, I'd be happy to answer them.

-Roller

P.S. I believe they were already holding these events around this time last year, which makes me wonder whether they plan on holding it this year.

RollerCam540 wrote:http://www.revitup.com

I participated in this event last year and I am eagerly awaiting this year's event dates. I'd say the twenty-five dollars were well spent.

The run down: Participants are given two opportunities to race a closed course in a Chevy Cobalt. The course is not much wider than the car itself and it takes about 40 seconds to traverse. Every hour, to compensate for changing track conditions, a professional driver will race the course to set the index; your score (index) will be relative to the professional's score (index). Should a driver veer off the course and hit a cone, then the driver would incur a one second penalty for each cone hit. One hit cone would likely prevent that driver from placing.

The car is "a specially prepared cobalt" -- whatever that means. It has anti-lock braking, electronic stability control, traction control, and the only gear from which one can choose is drive. This is done to "level the playing field" and, to a degree, it does. Not only does it prevent a skilled driver from maximizing a car's potential, it will force a good driver to compensate for the vehicle’s computer’s safety precautions (ABS, EST, TC) and the automatic transmission’s inability to foresee the future.

If you place in the top 25 with cobalt (last year about 1500 drivers showed up to each location) then those 25 drivers will race the same course in a C6 corvette. The highest C6 index scored, of all the locations, will win the Z06.

For those who don't have a chance to place: you will have the opportunity to race with a cobalt on a different (and smaller) closed course -- nothing you do on that course has any bearing on the competition. You can also race the Supercharged SS stick on that course too. Rookies beware: incorrectly operating the standard shift on the SS will likely earn you an open microphone interview with a professional driver turned jester. You get to try the C6, no matter what, with two tries on a miniature (and I mean miniature) closed course. You can sit through racing classes, given by professional drivers, for free. Professional drivers oversee all courses so you'll get some good commentary while you and others practice.

Lastly, you can test drive most of the chevy production line (I don't know about the camaro concept this year, but you couldn't test that one last year). By "test drive", I mean, a slow stroll through a course; if you don't obey the test drive rules, you will be thrown out of the event park and forbidden from racing/placing.

Bring a cooler, pack it with food and drinks, because you’ll spend a good deal on those items if bought from a concession stand.

Should you have any questions, time allowing, I'd be happy to answer them.

-Roller

P.S. I believe they were already holding these events around this time last year, which makes me wonder whether they plan on holding it this year.

Johnf514 and I were at the event in Orlando last year, and it was a blast. We have pictures and videos around here, somewhere.

The Cobalts had Cold Air Intakes and Cat Back exhausts, according to the tell-tale hanging signs. Didn't add very much (if any) horsepower. The Corvettes were amazing to drive! John even qualified to race in them, until someone came in at the last second and bumped him out of place.

Anyway, I hope this is only your FIRST post, and not your only post, because this qualifies you for spambot-hood.

RollerCam540 wrote:http://www.revitup.com

Why is Firefox giving me a page that says this is a reported attack site?

Nychold wrote: Anyway, I hope this is only your FIRST post, and not your only post, because this qualifies you for spambot-hood.

Sad -- isn't it -- how spam has effected everything on the web?

I was 60th out of 1305. Funny story tool: the kid that brought the car in before me was all over the place. It was so bad I thought he must have been drunk or the car must have been broken. When I got a look at the car, the tires looked like spaghetti and meatballs, but everyone elses looked pristine! I was afraid to say anything about it (afraid to "complain") because I figured it would cause a riot. So I decided I would just go slow enough that the mangled tires wouldn't really matter and even at that speed I felt like I was driving on ice -- 60th anyway.

... I could have been a contenduh...

Maybe it was a bad idea, being a first time poster and all, to post a link like revitup with a P.R.-like description. With better tires I'm hopeful that I'll better than 60th this year, but to avoid discrediting myself, I'd like to do so amongst a slew of formidable competition. Therefore, I am recommending this to every enthusiast board that I frequent that may not know of it, in hopes I'll get a few wheelman that'll give me a run for my money.

One might ask why I began frequenting the board? To see if I could find some literature that would better help my girlfriend understand how to properly drive stick. I had so much fun reading that I decided to join up and stick around.

yay for females driving stick!

even if this was his only post i wouldn't consider it spam. it's a driving enthusiast thing posted on a driving enthusiast forum, and in the correct section even, which is amazing!

welcome to the site RollerCam540

i went to Rev it Up back in i think 2004 when it was Mazda running it. it was a lot of fun.

jomotopia wrote:even if this was his only post i wouldn't consider it spam. it's a driving enthusiast thing posted on a driving enthusiast forum, and in the correct section even, which is amazing!

My deepest apologies!

jomotopia wrote:welcome to the site RollerCam540

Thank you -- it's nice to be here.

i wanted to go last year but didn't get around to it, and judging that there aren't any updates about events this year, I'm guessing GM is not renewing their sponsorship unfortunately. I hope something like this comes back, mazda also sponsored it a few years ago

Hey there RollerCam540 - welcome to Standardshift!

As Nychold said, he and I went last year and had a blast. I hope they have dates coming out soon for this year's Rev It Up. I definitely want to go again.

I was placed something like 26th in my class for the races and almost made it to the semi-finals, but no such luck.

Johnf514 wrote:Hey there RollerCam540 - welcome to Standardshift!

Thank you, nice to be here!

Johnf514 wrote:As Nychold said, he and I went last year and had a blast. I hope they have dates coming out soon for this year's Rev It Up. I definitely want to go again.

Last year, when I went, it was pretty darn hot out. Hopefully, they're just waiting for things to cool down but who knows?

Johnf514 wrote:I was placed something like 26th in my class for the races and almost made it to the semi-finals, but no such luck.

I was 14th in my class, 60th overall, with an index of 559.

I was as happy with my results as I was bummed: I can't help but wonder how I would have done with a usable set of tires. I wish I could have taken a picture, they made a completely flat spotted tire look desirable.

When I saw more score, considering how easy I took it because of the tires, I was frustrated. I certainly wasn't going slow but that extra bit could have made the difference. And trust me, I couldn't have safely pushed that car any harder, it was the same sensation one would have when racing that track covered in snow-slush.